


The Emperor's Will Be Done

by actualkoschei, kishiriaz



Category: Horus Heresy - Various Authors
Genre: Fix-it fic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9447338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualkoschei/pseuds/actualkoschei, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishiriaz/pseuds/kishiriaz
Summary: Saul Tarvitz returns, but Nathaniel Garro is now engaged to Euphrati Keeler.....





	

Knight-Errant Nathaniel Garro, couldn’t suppress a smile as he plodded to the door of a hab on Luna. Another mission had been successfully completed and he had the satisfaction of knowing that as ever, he was the Emperor’s hand.

He also had the pleasure of having disarmed at the Knights headquarters, dressing in simple black fatigues, and knowing that behind that hab door waited Euphrati Keeler: his saint, his inspiration, his love, and his fiancée.

Garro keyed the door open. Before he could announce his presence, Euphrati was in front of him, one finger at her lips.

“You move like an Astartes, Euphrati,” he laughed.

“Quiet!” she whispered sharply, and closed the door. “Come in and sit down. I have a surprise for you.”

He sat on the sofa and whispered, “A good surprise, I hope?”

She sat beside him, and took a few of his fingers in her hand. “Yes, but you are going to want to exclaim when I tell you, and you must be quiet.” She looked him in the eyes. “Nathaniel…Saul Tarvitz is alive.”

He was silent, fighting not to cry out in joy at what she had told him. “That’s impossible,” he finally told her.

“You found Loken on Isstvan III. Why not Tarvitz?”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he is asleep in our bed upstairs.”

Garro’s mouth hung open in shock. “It’s really him?”

“As far as I can tell. Come and see, but stay quiet. He is healing and needs the sleep.”

She led him up the stairs to the sleeping floor. The door opened onto the foot of the bed, and sure enough, Garro could see a pillow with touseled, long, brown hair. That in itself was a sign of authenticity; as Tarvitz’s lover, Garro knew Saul wasn’t a natural blond. 

Garro knelt quietly and pulled the covers away from the man’s face. It was Saul all right. He knew every curve and angle of that face. More angles than curves now, though; it was clear he had been malnourished for a long time.

Tears came to Garro’s eyes. He wanted to awaken Tarvitz but knew that if a Space Marine were sleeping so deeply, it was because they needed it. 

“How?” Garro whispered.

Euphrati motioned Nathaniel away.  When they were downstairs, she sat in the kitchen with him and said, "I don't know all the details myself.  He showed up at the front door a few nights ago, looking like he'd just crawled out of a sewer, and maybe he had.  I gave him a hot bath, all the food in the house, and let him sleep.  He wakes up once in a while, and I feed him again.  That's how he's been the past few days."  She looked down at the table for a moment, then said, "I think next time he wakes up, you should be beside him."

“Speaking of all the food in the house….”

She went to the cold storage and brought out two whole roasted fowls. She put them on a platter with some rolls and butter and placed it in front of him.

Garro tore the bread apart, filled it with some meat, and told her, “You are my angel.”

Euphrati hung her head. "I will do the will of the God-Emperor," she whispered.  “He returned Saul to you.  My work here is done.  I live to do His will."

"Euphrati, no!" Nathaniel told her around a mouthful of food. He stopped to chew and swallow before continuing. "I don't know how we'll do this, but we will make this work.  I am going to marry you, just like we planned.  But you're right, I do need to honour my vows to Saul."  

He pushed the platter aside and drew her onto his lap.  "Right now, though, we have to take life one day at a time.  One hour at a time, perhaps.  I need to know what's happened to him, and what effect it's had."  He leaned down and kissed her.  "Also, thank you for taking such good care of him."

"I never thought I'd be bathing a naked man who wasn't you," she said.

He laughed a little.  "Where have you been sleeping?" 

"The other bedroom.  I want to be close in case he wakes up frightened or needing something.  Which he does, several times a night."

They both looked up at the ceiling, hearing the bed upstairs starting to shake.

"He's waking up, Nate.  Go to him, quickly!"

Nate clutched at her hand. "You should come with me. I want you to be with us." He rose, hurried up the stairs though, and ran to Saul’s side. Nathaniel collapsed to his knees, reaching out for Saul, but too nervous to touch him. 

Saul opened his eyes.  He blinked, not looking surprised at first.  Then his eyes widened and he threw his arms around Nathaniel's neck.  "Garro!"

Nathaniel gathered him close. "Good morning, my sleeping beauty."

They clung to each other for several minutes.  Nathaniel had tears in his eyes but Saul was sobbing, hard enough to shake his whole body.  Nathaniel clutched him even tighter, then started to kiss his cheeks, his forehead, his eyelids.  Eventually their lips met, and the galaxy made sense again.

Nathaniel drew back from the kiss, cupping Saul's face gently in his hands. He saw Saul’s new scars and his half-healed wounds and the marks of his exhaustion, and Nathaniel's hearts felt like they were breaking. His poor love. He'd been through so much.

"You're safe, darling. It's over now, you're safe with us. Whatever you've been through, the pain is over, I promise." Nathaniel lay Saul gently down against the pillow, keeping an arm around him. "Euphrati?”

Downstairs, Euphrati took several kilos of ground groxmeat out of the chiller.  She began seasoning it to make into meatloaf.  Saul had been devouring several of them a day, and they were convenient because they were easy to make, easy for him to eat, and nourishing. she also put potatoes in the oven.  Nathaniel would still be hungry.

The image came into her mind of her bringing them food in bed.  The image was humiliating, and she started to cry.  Saul had been there first.  Nate had loved Saul before he'd loved her.  What was her role going to be now?  She and Nathaniel would be calling off their wedding, obviously, despite what he had told her earlier. The passion and longing between the two Space Marines had been so obvious, and they were probably better off with their own kind anyway.

She sat in the living room and wept quietly for at least half an hour.  After that she had some water and decided that when they awakened, she would let them know a meal was ready, but wouldn’t bring it to them.

“Euphrati?”

She looked up. Nathaniel was standing at the foot of the stairs. 

“You’re crying.”

“Food’s in the oven.”

He sat down across from her. “What is wrong?

Euphrati summarized her fears to him. At the end, Garro sat beside her and pulled her against his side. “All your fears are logical ones, but I repeat, I am still going to marry you. We will work things out somehow.”

Saul cleared his throat and they looked up. He was wearing one of Garro’s duty robes, belted tightly to fit him. “I smelled food.”

Garro reached a hand out to him. Saul walked the few steps over and took it, sitting on Garro’s other side. 

Nathaniel lifted Euphrati’s chin and bent down to kiss her.  His tongue brushed her lips, a clear reminder that she was still his and he still wanted her.  When he broke the kiss, he did the same with Saul.

"You're still my husband, Saul," Garro murmured.  "Euphrati is going to be my wife.  Our wedding's been arranged.  The three of us need to do some negotiating, because I am not going to give up either one of you."

"Can we eat first?" Saul asked.  His stomach gurgled as a counterpoint.

Euphrati chuckled a little and the three of them went to the kitchen.

Saul still wasn’t talking about his escape from Isstvan III, so Garro and Euphrati told him about how they had become a couple instead.

“Holding hands with him,” Euphrati explained. “That was when things became romantic between us. Still, we stayed very much an Astartes and human friendship, for a while.

“Until after Loken’s and Mersadie’s wedding,” Garro said with a smile.

“Loken?” Saul asked. “Garviel Loken, Tenth Company, Luna Wolves?”

“He’s a Knight Errant like me, but yes,” Garro told him. “The Sigillite arranged it. The Sigillite performed the wedding, and Euphrati here caught the bouquet. I didn’t know the significance until she told me.”

“We spent the night together outside, on the grass and under the stars,” Euphrati concluded, with some pinkness rising into her cheeks. “By the way, Nate, Space Marines aren’t sterile. Mersadie is pregnant. She’s probably telling Garviel about it right now.”

“Do you have any wine?” Saul asked. “This is a great deal for me to process.”

“This is a house where a Space Marine lives,” Euphrati told him with a smile as she went to get a bottle and an opener. “Of course there’s wine.”

Garro opened the bottle and poured three glasses. Before he could propose a toast, Tarvitz bowed his head and murmured, “Baruch ata Adonai, eloheynu melech olam, borei pri hagafen.”

Garro nodded. “To us. To our continuing love.”

They clinked their glasses and sipped. Garro then asked, “Would the two of you mind sharing me?”

Euphrati looked at the two men. “Does Saul know about our faith?”

“Do you know about mine?” Saul asked in return. “That was a blessing for the wine, you know.”

“The Emperor is God and God is the Emperor,” Euphrati responded.

“He is not.” Saul stood and pushed his chair back. “God is not a man. God is One. Adonai eloheynu, Adonai echad. Nathaniel, do you believe this blasphemy?”

Nathaniel weighed his words carefully. “You have seen the Emperor yourself, Saul.”

“I will not be part of a new Ben Pantera movement!”

“Can we please speak in Gothic?” Euphrati exclaimed. “What are you two talking about?”

“I am part of an ethno-religious group that dates back to at least the second millennium before the Common Era,” Tarvitz said. “That blessing is in our language. We believe that God is One, and that God is not corporeal, and would never incarnate because that would compromise its oneness. As for the Emperor, I have often thought he might be Moschiach, the Messiah, because the Messiah is said to be a man. A man with power, but not a God. He will bring about a golden age of peace and prosperity.”

Euphrati sat down, eyes full of wonder. “Of course. That is so true. What is Ben Pantera?”

“Some wandering preacher of long ago whose followers declared him not only Moschiach, but God. You should hear the Sigillite talk about his movement. Suffice it to say that Malcador does not approve!”

“What happened to this Ben Pantera man?”

“Executed for being an insurgent. His followers said he had risen from the dead, but there was never any proof. Certainly no peace and prosperity.”

Euphrati nodded and took Saul’s hand. “You have given me a great deal to think about, Saul. The Emperor denies that He is anything but a man. Perhaps He is telling the truth and we only need to understand this teaching.”

“This has been a very interesting theological discussion,” Garro concluded, “but it has taken us very far off course from my question. Would you mind sharing me?”

“I think we should try,” Euphrati told him.

“I agree,” Saul answered.

“Then it’s settled.” Euphrati picked up her fork. “I’ll give you some time alone. I’ve had Nathaniel all this time, and now it’s your turn, Saul.”

 

Several glasses of wine later, Saul and Nathaniel went back to the bedroom. They undressed and got under the covers.  Garro drew Tarvitz into his arms, but lovemaking wasn't on either of their minds.  They wanted to hold each other and let the fact that they were both still alive sink in.  Nathaniel cradled Saul in his arms, and thought about making a home together, the three of them, and that the God Emperor had truly blessed him.

They told each other what had happened since Isstvan.  Rogue Traders. The Eisenstein.  The Knights Errant.  A long quest to simply fight all the way back to Terra for both of them.

"Euphrati is a wonderful woman," Saul finally admitted. "She nursed me these past few days.  I don't know how long it was, but I know the only reason she did it is because she knows you love me."

"You don't resent that we're engaged."

"No.  I don't.  You thought I was dead, after all.  You marry her, Nathaniel.  I'll be there as your best man, and I'll woo her seriously.  If your vision is for us to live together as a family, by the Emperor, we will be a family."

"I want a big bed, with the three of us in it."

"I want that too."

Garro rubbed his nose against Tarvitz's.  "Take me, you fool."

Tarvitz did.  
Euphrati went to a café to allow the men privacy. She was reading theology articles on her dataslate and sipping her second recaf when her vox chimed. She answered it, seeing it was her home number. 

“Hello, Nathaniel.”

“Saul and I are presentable. Come back when you are ready.”

“I’ll take this recaf to go and be right there.”

In the end, she came in with a recaf for each of them as well as a few small cakes. Nathaniel and Saul might be presentable, but they were still upstairs. She went up to the bedroom to find both of them dressed and sitting on the bed.

“Recaf! You’re an angel, Euphrati,” Saul told her, reaching out gratefully for a cup.

“There should be no question as to why I love you,” Garro agreed. “Come lie with us, sweetheart."

Euphrati stepped forward hesitantly.  She didn't know Saul well at all yet, and this felt more intimate than she would like.  Still, it had been the will of the Emperor that they three would be reunited, and she trusted in His holy plans.  She climbed onto the bed and lay down on the covers, leaning back against Saul's chest, facing her fiance.  Garro held both of them in his arms, and she felt Saul's arm around her waist a moment later.  She could hear and feel their four hearts beating.  

Surrounded by warmth, love, and cakes, Euphrati thought to herself, Let it be done to me according to His Word.


End file.
